Friday, November 20, 2009

I made these three times and they passed the test with my kids, their kids and my hubby. He is the only one with the candy frosting on top. Check out that recipe at the bottom of the post!! It is the one that I usually put on my Texas Sheet Cake, but we all love it on all kind of "cakeish" desserts.

I am working on converting this to an "all pantry" item and keeping the chewiness. When I am satisfied with them, I will post it and the make-a-mix version!!

Finally, the brownies that I promised from my mom's 1944 wedding gift, a Better Homes & Garden Cook Book. These turn out nice and chewy. If you want the cake style . . . . well, I guess you could turn them into that, but, why would you want to?

Add flour mixture, vanilla and nuts. Mix well. Bake in wax paper lined pan for 30 - 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes 16 in 8 " pan . . . I know pretty funny, they were on rations at the time . . . Mom and I could wipe this out in no time!

Five minutes before the cake or brownies are done, mix the margarine or butter, milk, and cocoa in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla and nuts. Spread on hot dessert as soon as you take it out of the oven. This will easily cover a cookie sheet cake or brownies. I often spread half on the cake and then mix nuts with the second half to finish up the dessert.

To double this and bake in 13 X 10 " pan . . the middle had trouble getting done with out over baking the edges . . . . which of course became my favorite for dunking . . had to fight Mom for them :-)

***Little story about these brownies. I was expecting my second baby, 7 days overdue, hot and really tired of it all. I made these to drown my sorrows. I had returned from riding my bike with my daughter on the back, was hungry and that was all that I could just stuff n my face and lay down for nap. When I woke up an hour later, with my contractions only two minutes apart, I was so nauseated! Those brownies just sat in my stomach with the ice cream, trying to decide if it was going to come on up or not. Blah! I didn't eat them again for several years. the moral of this story . . . . don't eat them when you are about to have a baby!!! I know . . . TMI! ****

About Me

For over fifty years, I have seemed to spend a lot of my time in the kitchen. First, it was the usual “helping Mommy” whether it was everyday meals or canning. Mom wasn’t really into cooking, so I had to create my own kitchen adventures. As the years went by, I enjoyed it more and more. Fortunately, my family have been pretty good sports about my experiments!
Canning fruit in Utah led to huge gardens as a wife and mother, canning meat when it was too good of a price to pass up . . . Oops! No freezer . . . DUH! Finding that these activities have blessed my family repeatedly led me to this point.
Life experiences, working in a church cannery for three years and serving as cannery specialist two times have brought me to the point of sharing what I have learned. The most important lesson being, keep an open mind and always be ready to learn from others. Be sure to check out the links I have in the side bar of the blog!!!